• The Cycling News forum is still looking to add volunteer moderators with. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

Cycling book thread

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
craig1985

craig1985

May 6, 2009
8,522
1
0
Visit site
Something a bit different. Just come in here and talk about any cycling books you are reading ATM, have read, will read etc. Or offer any thoughts into books you thought were great or was just plain dire.

Myself?

I'm currantly reading Bradley Wiggans autobiography and it is a decent read so far (talks about how much of a drunken deadbeat his father was, despite being a good Six Day rider in the day). I recently finished Johan Bruyneel's book. I thought it was pretty average myself. A lot of it he is repeating himself, switching from one story to the other in each chapter. It was also pretty clear it was set for an American audience (like spelling, use of imperial measurements etc.). There wan't a lot of insight or any of the anecdotes were pretty boring. Of course he put in the "None of our riders ever tested positive" line in there (as we all know it isn't true, and I'm looking at you Beniot Joachim). I don't hold anything against him, or any prejudice, but I think his book writting ability leaves a lot to be desired.

In saying that, the best cycling book I have read (autobiography or otherwise) is Graeme Obree's book. Certainly very moving and in same cases, quite sad (like how he wanted to and tried to kill himself) and how much of a failure he thought he was (his only failure was that he didn't kill himself).
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
how long before someone mentions LA confidential.. :D

read a few bits and bobs.. Robert Millers Biography arrived today, Sex Lies and handlebar tape on order, and couple of the lance books that will go down on here like a lead turd.. Chasing lance i enjoyed, which isnt about lance, its a journalists view of following the tour around which was an interesting read...

Some others but id need to check the bookshelf..

and the yellow jersey companion to the tour de france by les woodland which will sit by the sofa for the next month..
 
C

Connor Pass

Jun 25, 2009
155
0
0
Visit site
Paul Kimmage's Rough Ride is a great read - well written too as he's a journalist anyway. It usually gets re-released to coincide with the latest drug scandal to hit the Tour - so maybe in 4 weeks! :)
 
Ziptie

Ziptie

Mar 17, 2009
27
0
0
Visit site
Put Me Back on My Bike: In Search of Tom Simpson, by William Fotheringham. Excellent. Definitely recommended.

Also just started Fallen Angel, The Passion of Fausto Coppi, by the same author. So far so good.
 
boalio

boalio

May 1, 2009
149
0
0
Visit site
I just finished Dog in a Hat.

Fun read. Nothing amazing, but quick and easy. Nice insight in the the life of the average continental pro.
 
Ibanez

Ibanez

Apr 29, 2009
380
1
0
Visit site
Le Tour, by Geoffrey Wheatcroft is very good, hard to condense the history of the tour into one book but he does it well.

The Death of Marco Pantani is excellent, but gets very technical and in depth in regards to his drug use. The amount of research that must have gone into it though is very impressive. Covers his entire career in detail.
 
ak-zaaf

ak-zaaf

Mar 11, 2009
3,274
1
0
Visit site
there are some dutch/belgian gems (apart from tim krabbe) that might be translated.

'de proloog' by bert wagendorp, fiction about the mindstate of a prologue specialist the night before de tdf prologue.

'van santander naar santander' the autobiography by peter winnen. one of the best cycling books i've read.

the book about johan van der velde is also good (by bart jungmann), from his days as l'uomo di gavia to amphetamine addiction after cycling pushing him to a (short) life of crime.

if you can appreciate (laugh at) the typical french arrogance and sense of drama, the jean-marie leblanc book is a good summer read. not too deep, but the inside look at the '98 debacle is worth the read.


if you like older books you must read dino buzzati's giro d'italia. still good after 60 years.
 
M

Matteo

Jun 25, 2009
11
0
0
Visit site
rolfrae said:
Why not read the first draft of my own cycling tome "75,000 Feet - Cycling the Mountains of the Tour de France" at the link below? Any feedback (general abuse) very welcome!

http://www.authonomy.com/ReadBook.aspx?bookid=6122#chapter
Click to expand...

I just had a scan through the first page and found 3 mistakes in one sentence!
Stephen Roche won the Tour in 1987, not 1988.
It's Stephen, not Steven.
There was no mist at La Plagne that day (I know as I was there). People often incorrectly talk of Roche riding through the mist to La Plagne, but they are getting confused with his stage win at La Bourboule in 1992.

I'll have a read though, it looks interesting. ;)
 
H

heinkel12

May 2, 2009
24
0
0
Visit site
It's as rare as hen's teeth but "My World on Wheels" by the famous Aussie cyclist of the 1950's Russell Mockridge is a very good read. Second hand bookstores occasionally com up with a copy.
 
rolfrae

rolfrae

Mar 10, 2009
350
0
0
www.rolfraehansen.com
Matteo said:
I just had a scan through the first page and found 3 mistakes in one sentence!
Stephen Roche won the Tour in 1987, not 1988.
It's Stephen, not Steven.
There was no mist at La Plagne that day (I know as I was there). People often incorrectly talk of Roche riding through the mist to La Plagne, but they are getting confused with his stage win at La Bourboule in 1992.

I'll have a read though, it looks interesting. ;)
Click to expand...

I did say it was a first draft and I was looking for feedback, so thanks!

Sadly I wasn't at La Plagne that year, didn't even see it on TV (too young, honest!). Will have to look back through my research where I got the mist thing.

Anymore feedback will be much appreciated. :)
 
Alpe d'Huez

Alpe d'Huez

Mar 11, 2009
10,526
2,772
28,180
Visit site
Roche's book is actually pretty good. You'll read it and see why everyone liked the guy.

Once I was able to stomach it, Willy Voet's book is pretty good read because he spills his guts and it's very real.

Though I think likely all of it is true, I didn't like reading Lance to Landis very much. Good research, well written, but too...hmmm, can't put my finger on it.

Though half of it is fiction and spin, I liked Floyd's book. The parts on growing up and getting into cycling, and his strategy on Stage 17 to Morzine are great to read.

Can't get into Bobke's books. Though he writes with more skill than he often talks, there's too much shuck and jibe for me.

The Rider is well written, but dated.

More later if I think of them.
 
Pietro

Pietro

Mar 11, 2009
258
0
0
Visit site
craig1985 said:
Something a bit different. Just come in here and talk about any cycling books you are reading ATM, have read, will read etc. Or offer any thoughts into books you thought were great or was just plain dire.

Myself?

I'm currantly reading Bradley Wiggans autobiography and it is a decent read so far (talks about how much of a drunken deadbeat his father was, despite being a good Six Day rider in the day). I recently finished Johan Bruyneel's book. I thought it was pretty average myself. A lot of it he is repeating himself, switching from one story to the other in each chapter. It was also pretty clear it was set for an American audience (like spelling, use of imperial measurements etc.). There wan't a lot of insight or any of the anecdotes were pretty boring. Of course he put in the "None of our riders ever tested positive" line in there (as we all know it isn't true, and I'm looking at you Beniot Joachim). I don't hold anything against him, or any prejudice, but I think his book writting ability leaves a lot to be desired.

In saying that, the best cycling book I have read (autobiography or otherwise) is Graeme Obree's book. Certainly very moving and in same cases, quite sad (like how he wanted to and tried to kill himself) and how much of a failure he thought he was (his only failure was that he didn't kill himself).
Click to expand...

"Dog in the Hat", "Bad Blood"
 
V

vtrich

Jun 18, 2009
3
0
0
Visit site
The biography of Major Taylor was an interesting story and my mom sent me a book about the guy who set the cross country record back in the late
1800s,...sorry, don't have the title.
 
P

pmcg76

Mar 6, 2009
4,549
436
16,580
Visit site
A Rough Ride by Paul Kimmage, lots of people crucify him but perhaps they should read this book because it was written in 1989 before all the revelations and helps to explain his always consistent stance on doping as well as being a good read.

Just read, A dog in a hat, not bad, backs up Kimmages stories but why did Parkin have a pop at Kimmage but not mention most of the other English speaking riders of that era, strange. Maybe trying to get the US readers onside.
 
R

ridelikethewind

Mar 30, 2009
24
0
0
Visit site
Two cycling books that I have read that arenot already mentioned are:

- The Rider, by Tim Krabbe (he also wrote 'The Vanishining')
- French Revolutions, by Tim Moore.

Both are excellent reads.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Matteo said:
I just had a scan through the first page and found 3 mistakes in one sentence!
Stephen Roche won the Tour in 1987, not 1988.
It's Stephen, not Steven.
There was no mist at La Plagne that day (I know as I was there). People often incorrectly talk of Roche riding through the mist to La Plagne, but they are getting confused with his stage win at La Bourboule in 1992.

I'll have a read though, it looks interesting. ;)
Click to expand...

i could have sworn it was misty too.. thought that combined with the other atrocious weather was why there was no tv coverage of the climb.. my memory is failing me.. thats what 20 years does to you..

1992 wasnt mist.. 1992 was thicker than mist.. :D
 
craig1985

craig1985

May 6, 2009
8,522
1
0
Visit site
A Significant Other by Matt Rendall (who wrote the Pantini biography, and I thought that was very well written, well researched, and a very good read) is another good one. The focus here is on Victor Hugo Pena, part biography and part insight into the life as a domestique, and how he nearly didn't make US Postal's Tour line-up because he robbed back home in Colombia and the thieves took his passport (and his visa), and the Spanish Goverment were not giving out visas to Colombians at that time (this is around June 2003), so he rode the Tour on a tourist visa.

On the front cover has Pena wearing the yellow jersey and riding alongside Armstrong.
 
P

pmcg76

Mar 6, 2009
4,549
436
16,580
Visit site
Was just going through my cycling library and came across this classic 'Wide eyed and legless', not a book about the Hilton sisters but a book about the classic 1987 Tour de France and the British ANC-Halfords team. The writer, British journalist Jeff Connor was a rather novice reporter who ended up becoming an intrinsic part of the ANC team by the end of the Tour. A truly eye-opening book and hugely entertaining although probably hard to get these days, especially outside of the UK.
 
Peter Hymas

Peter Hymas

Mar 3, 2009
5
0
0
Visit site
Push Yourself Just A Little Bit More by Johnny Green--A one-time manager of The Clash scams a press pass and takes in the 2004 Tour from start to finish. Johnny Green is also a regular columnist in Rouleur magazine.

Wide-Eyed and Legless: Inside the Tour de France by Jeff Connor--Already mentioned in the thread, but worth mentioning again. I believe Connor's original plan was to somehow dress in ANC kit and somehow sneak into a Tour stage during the '87 Tour, but he wisely decided write a book instead. While Roche and Delgado were duking it our for Tour supremacy, ANC Halfords were just trying to survive.

A Peiper's Tale by Allan Peiper with Chris Sidwells--Pretty interesting read about one of my favorite riders from the '80s made all the more intriguing by the brief snippet Peiper mentioned about his stay in North Carolina after being stranded in the US following the 1978 Junior worlds. It didn't take much detective work to figure out who his host, Mac, was.

The Rider by Tim Krabbe--Also mentioned, but worth bringing up again. I think this slim novel best captures what it means to be a racing cyclist...a true classic.

Hearts of Lions and Pushing the Limits by Peter Nye--The definitive books about the history of competitive cycling in the US.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom